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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330590">we could be heroes (just for one day)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/joe_mama/pseuds/joe_mama'>joe_mama</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Unhappy Ending, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:16:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,371</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330590</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/joe_mama/pseuds/joe_mama</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"You could get in serious trouble for this, Harley," Ned warned gently, placing a hand on the older boy's shoulder.</p>
<p>"Are you sure you want to do this?" MJ asked softly. It was a strange contrast to her usually sarcastic, snarky personality. Harley shrugged Ned's hand off his shoulder and rounded on them.</p>
<p>"Peter's fucking dead and you're asking me if I'm fucking sure I want to do this?" He snapped, voice cracking.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harley Keener &amp; Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>we could be heroes (just for one day)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You could get in serious trouble for this, Harley," Ned warned gently, placing a hand on the older boy's shoulder.</p>
<p>"Are you sure you want to do this?" MJ asked softly. It was a strange contrast to her usually sarcastic, snarky personality. Harley shrugged Ned's hand off his shoulder and rounded on them.</p>
<p>"Peter's fucking dead and you're asking me if I'm fucking sure I want to do this?" He snapped, voice cracking. Ned sighed.</p>
<p>"We're just looking out for you, Harley," MJ murmured. Harley opened his mouth to reply, but decided against it and turned back around.</p>
<p>"I know," he whispered. "I know."</p>
<p>The three remained in silence for several moments, before Harley furiously rubbed at his eyes and cleared his throat.</p>
<p>"Um," he said, "you guys still up for it?"</p>
<p>MJ and Ned nodded swiftly, glancing at the golden necklace hung up on the wall, protected by a thick barrier of glass. Usually, three cameras were hidden in the room to make sure no one waltzed in and took the stone while Stephen was out, but Ned had quickly located all three and deactivated them all.</p>
<p>"Come on, Ned," MJ said, glancing warily at Harley one more time before exiting the room. Ned hesitated, smiling softly at Harley before whispering.</p>
<p>"Please don't do anything stupid." Harley nodded curtly, watching as Ned left the room.</p>
<p>He stared up at the glimmering green stone held within the eye-shaped necklace. A heavy lump sat in his throat and his hands trembled as he reached up and gently started pulling away the loose shards of glass that had remained when he'd punched right through it, (with the help of his suit, of course. It had taken a few hits before it started cracking, after all, the small box held within it one of the most powerful things in the universe.)</p>
<p>Harley reached up and pulled the necklace out of its container, eyes stinging at the thought of seeing his boyfriend again. He gently stuck two fingers into the opening and latched onto the stone. A strange vibrating sensation ran up his arm, making his hands shake even more than they were previously and almost making him drop the stone.</p>
<p>He quickly shifted the stone until it sat in his palm. He curled his fingers over it and held his fist up.</p>
<p>"How the hell does this work-?"</p>
<p>Before he could figure it out, the doors swung open to reveal a worried-looking MJ on the other side.</p>
<p>"He's coming," she panted, eyes flicking down to the green light seeping through his fist. "You have to hurry-"</p>
<p>"KEENER!"</p>
<p>Harley flinched as Stephen came into view at the end of the long hall that led to the room. Panic-stricken, Harley squeezed his eyes shut and focused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>oOoOoOoOoOo</p>
<p> </p>
<p>    He landed on the floor with a loud thud, head hitting the ground and making him see stars for a moment. He groaned and forced shaky arms to help himself sit up. He looked around. He wasn't at the Sanctum Sanctorum anymore. He was in his room back at the tower. Hope flared in his chest as he stumbled to his feet. He spotted his phone sitting on his desk and he rushed to it. </p>
<p>
  <em>7:47 PM, June 12th.</em>
</p>
<p>He could've cried with relief. He dropped the phone, collapsing onto his knees and bringing a shaky hand to his mouth. Before standing up, he took a few minutes to catch his breath.</p>
<p>Everything was exactly the same. Rain cascaded down the windows, just like the first time, and Morgan's muffled laughter came from the living room,<em> just like the first time</em>. </p>
<p>Harley got to his feet and swung the door open, running as fast as his shaky legs could carry him. The elevator would refuse to move faster, so he was stuck, fidgeting anxiously with the hem of his shirt until the doors slid open with a ding.</p>
<p>Harley ran out, ignoring Tony's confused look from where he was sitting on the couch. His eyes scanned the living room, stopping on a familiar mop of brown hair. There he was. Peter Parker.</p>
<p>Scrolling through his phone on one of the sofas, a milkshake in his free hand.</p>
<p>He was right there. </p>
<p><em>Alive</em>. </p>
<p>"Harley?" Tony asked at some point. Harley barely registered it, words caught in his throat as Peter looked up and met his gaze, a soft smile touching his lips.</p>
<p>"Pete..." Harley whispered, his own words interrupted by a sob. His knees buckled and he fell to the floor, feeling a pair of hands holding onto his shoulders in an instant.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>oOoOoOoOoOo</p>
<p> </p>
<p>    Peter scrolled aimlessly through his phone, taking a sip of the Oreo milkshake he and Morgan had made an hour ago. Morgan ran around the living room, practically bouncing on the walls thanks to the amount of sugar she'd sneaked into the blender when Peter wasn't looking. She leaped off the couch and rolled on the floor, her stuffed rabbit still in her grasp. </p>
<p>"Dad! Dad, look at what I can do!"</p>
<p>"What'cha got kid?" Tony said, amusement clear in his tone. Peter glanced up as Morgan did an awkward cartwheel across the floor, landing harshly on her back. She laughed even harder and Peter quickly remembered the kids are weird and indestructible when they want to be.</p>
<p>The soft ding of the elevator doors interrupted Morgan's antics. Peter took another sip and turned his phone off.</p>
<p>"Harley?" Tony asked. At that, Peter looked up, smiling when he spotted the blond.</p>
<p>Harley stared at him, a strange expression coating his features.</p>
<p>"Pete..." He murmured, face contorting and his body falling to his knees as a sob ripped through his throat. Peter nearly dropped his glass while rushing to his feet.</p>
<p>"Hey, hey, Harls, what's wrong?" He murmured, placing both hands on Harley's shoulders and pulling him onto a hug. Harley buried his face into Peter's shirt, grasping desperately onto him. Peter ran his hand up and down Harley's back, glancing over at Tony to share a confused look.</p>
<p>Eventually, Peter led Harley to the couch so they could both be more comfortable. Harley lay draped over Peter, legs tangled and head resting on the superhero's shoulder. Tony sat at their feet, a comforting hand resting on Harley's ankle. Morgan had calmed down and stayed nearby, her attention directed towards a movie playing on the tv.</p>
<p>After Harley's breathing had slowed and his cries had come to a stop, Peter looked down at him to find the blond fast asleep, finally looking at peace.</p>
<p>"I'm gonna go start up dinner," Tony said softly, and although he was directing his words to Peter, his eyes remained glued to Harley's still form. "We can ask him about it later." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>oOoOoOoOoOo</p>
<p> </p>
<p>    Harley's eyes fluttered open at the sound of Tony's voice nearby.</p>
<p><em>Here he comes to drag me out of bed again</em>, he thought bitterly. </p>
<p>"Harls?" </p>
<p>He recognized that voice. It was definitely not Tony's. It was gentle and loving and he knew it better than any other voice in the world.</p>
<p>He turned his head and found himself staring into the big doe eyes he'd grown to adore.</p>
<p>Peter smiled. Harley's lip trembled. Peter cupped his cheeks and sat up. Harley grabbed onto Peter's hands and stared at his boyfriend, admiring every inch of skin and every freckle and every shade of brown in his eyes. Their lips met in a gentle, chaste kiss that made another tear slip down Harley's face. He wrapped his arms around Peter's neck in order to deepen the kiss, but it was interrupted by Tony, who walked into the living room and awkwardly cleared his throat. He held a large plate of chicken nuggets and a bowl full of salad.</p>
<p>Harley sniffled and wiped at his cheeks, shifting so the two were facing the table in front of the couch. His hand remained in Peter's.</p>
<p>Tony and Morgan sat down and the four started eating in silence. By the encouraging looks Harley was receiving, he guessed they wanted an explanation. He cleared his throat and leaned back into the couch.</p>
<p>"Uh, Mo, can you please go get me some ice?" He asked, smiling softly as Morgan stuffed one last nugget into her mouth and ran to the kitchen, Harley's cup in hand. </p>
<p>Harley sighed.</p>
<p>"I don't know where to start," he chuckled dryly. Peter traced a thumb over his knuckles.</p>
<p>"How about the beginning?" Tony asked. Harley nodded.</p>
<p>"Um," he started. "So... Tomorrow, at around eight PM, we're gonna get an alert from a distress signal down at 21st avenue. Otto's gonna be there. And, uh, we're gonna finally take him down," he said, forcing a faux smile onto his lips that he was sure didn't reach his eyes.</p>
<p>"Wait, so, you're saying you're-?" Tony started.</p>
<p>"From the future, yeah."</p>
<p>The three remained in silence.</p>
<p>"How..? Why come back, then?" Peter asked. </p>
<p>"Ned, MJ, and I took the Time Stone from the Sanctum Sanctorum," Harley replied. Tony scoffed.</p>
<p>"He's gonna kill you when you get back."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I know..."</p>
<p>He didn't want to tell them the rest. The actual reason of his visit. But, alas, Peter could read him like a book.</p>
<p>"There's something you're not telling us, is there?"</p>
<p>"Yeah... Yeah, there is. It's um- when we go- I mean, when we fight Otto- I, um- Peter-"</p>
<p>"It's ok," Peter murmured patiently. Harley squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to banish the images that took over his mind.</p>
<p>"Peter doesn't make it home," he whispered, voice cracking.</p>
<p>There was a stunned silence that was interrupted by Morgan padding back to the table, a glass of ice in her hand.</p>
<p>"Here you go, Harls!"</p>
<p>"Thanks, Mo."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>oOoOoOoOoOo</p>
<p> </p>
<p>    "So, Peter <em>dies</em>?" Tony asked for the tenth time. He'd been pacing the lab for about fifteen minutes, biting his nails and messing with his hair. "Dies for good? Gone? Muerto?"</p>
<p>Harley sighed softly. "Yes, Tony."</p>
<p>"Hey, look, we can figure this out," Peter said, getting to his feet. "We'll just think of a new plan. A <em>better</em> plan, and we'll take Otto down without any of us dying."</p>
<p>"Exactly, none of you will die, I can start working on Peter's suit reinforcements and you two can sort out a plan, alright?" Tony said confidently. Peter and Harley got to their feet and walked to the door. Right as Harley was about to exit right behind Peter, Tony laid a hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>"Hey," he said softly. "I get it if you don't want to go into detail, but, how does Pete...?"</p>
<p>"<em>Oh</em>," Harley replied. "He just, uh- internal bleeding or something."</p>
<p>He was lying. He was lying and he was glad Peter wasn't in the room to call him out about it. Peter didn't die because of anything internal. Otto shoved one of his metal arms into Peter's stomach and he bled out in Harley's arms in mere minutes. But he knew that if Tony upgraded Peter's suit and made it more durable and resistant, there were less chances of the universe still finding a way to kill Peter. But Harley had his own plan, and he could only hope it would work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>oOoOoOoOoOo</p>
<p> </p>
<p>    "Otto, you don't have to do this! I know there's still a part of you in there!" Peter yelled out, clutching his surely broken arm to his chest. His mask and suit were ripped but other than a few bruises peeking out from under the fabric and his arm, he seemed mostly unharmed. Harley stumbled to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.</p>
<p>"The old Otto is <em>gone</em>!" Doc screamed, arms raising in defense.</p>
<p>Heart dropping, Harley realized all of this was the same. If he wasn't concussed, he would've recited the same lines Peter was about to say.</p>
<p>"No, he's not! This isn't you! The neural interface is affecting your mind!"</p>
<p>Everything was too familiar and Harley didn't know what to do. The plan had been working, for the most part. Very few things had been repeated and it had actually seemed like they were winning, but it was all lining back up again and, almost as if instinctively, Harley ran. He ran through the rubble of the destroyed buildings around them, ignoring Peter and Otto's conversation because it <em>didn't matter</em>. If he didn't do this the final result would be the same and he'd lose Peter all over again. He couldn't go through that.</p>
<p>He only considered how selfish it was until he was standing between the two and an arm flew towards him.</p>
<p>He truly understood how selfish it was until he stumbled back into a pair of arms, something wet and warm running down his stomach.</p>
<p>As he stared up at the stars as, in a fit of rage and horror and grief, Peter took Otto down with a few superhuman punches to the head and jaw.</p>
<p>He didn't register much after that, only Peter's horrified face hovering above him, sobbing and screaming something that Harley couldn't latch onto.</p>
<p>"Love you... So much," he murmured, smiling gently up at his lover as if he hung the stars in the sky and spun the planets around the sun. Peter's face contorted and he shook his head, applying even more pressure to Harley's stomach. It was useless. Harley  could barely feel his limbs anymore and he was just so <em>tired</em>.</p>
<p>"You'll-" He paused to suck in a pained breath. "You'll be ok."</p>
<p>"No, no, no, I won't, Harley! Why the hell would you do that?! I was- it was me! I was supposed to-" Peter sobbed then. A loud, ugly sob that ripped Harley's heart into two. Peter brought his hands up to hold Harley's face.</p>
<p>"I can't do this without you, Harley, I can't- you won't die on me, you <em>can't</em>."</p>
<p>Something that tasted of iron filled Harley's mouth, but he ignored it and let the blood find its own way out instead of coughing it up.</p>
<p>"We're in this together, remember?" Peter asked, eyes hidden behind walls of tears and <em>so much pain</em>. "Tony's coming, we'll fix you up and you'll be fine, ok? Harley?"</p>
<p>Darkness spotted Harley's vision, but he'd be ok. Peter would be ok.</p>
<p>"Harley, look at me, baby. Harley please."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Harley?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>sorry not sorry :))</p></blockquote></div></div>
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